Where's My Wonderland?
by Icy Metal and Frost Blue Roses
Summary: What if Wonderland isn't what they crack it up to be? What if, from the outside, Wonderland seems like a happy place, but when you enter it, it's a land full of nightmares? A dark, twisted, and modern-day Wonderland as I'm prone to write about. Read and review, please!


**Author's Note: Just a short songfic I decided to write to entertain myself. Leave me a comment to let me know how I did, please! Happy Halloween, guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "**_**Alice **__**in **__**Wonderland**_**" or the song "**_**Where's **__**My **__**Wonderland**_**?" Those rights belong to their respective owners.**

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"_Alice_..."

I ran, not knowing where I am or where I was going, only that I needed to get out of here now as my pursuer's footsteps echoed from down the hallway behind me. The voice calling my name is like a ghostly whisper in my ear, sending chills up and down my spine. I continued to run, trying to find a way to escape the seemingly endless hallway, my bare feet making pattering sounds against the laminate black and white checkered floor. A quick glance over my shoulder would show my awkwardly large nightgown flaring out behind me with every step I took and a menacing shadow of a man in a top hat calmly following behind me.

"_Alice_..."

"_Alice_..."

Finally finding a door, I flung it open and ran out into the cool night air, racing for the woods that surrounded the house I found myself in. The footsteps could still be heard as the unseen man continued to follow me through the darkened forest until I lost my footing, letting out a surprised scream as I fell into the unseen abyss in the ground.

_Down you fell, deep into your mind_  
_Off to Wonderland, leaving what's real behind_  
_You're a riddle I can't seem to read_  
_Your love a fairytale, too hard to believe_

I screamed as I fell, grappling with the walls of the hole to gain some sort of footing, but everything I grabbed gave way beneath my weight and I continued on my way downward.

"_Alice..._" the voice whispered again, "_Come_ _to_ _me_."

"NO!" I screamed, covering my head with my arms to protect myself when the ground came into view, crashing into a patch of awkwardly large rose bushes, the thorns tearing my nightclothes and scraping my flawless porcelain skin as I struggled to untangle myself from the thorned beauties.

"Whoa, there! Seems you have yourself in quite the bind, Cricket," a man's surprised voice commented, taking my arm and pulling me free of the roses. Looking up at the man with grateful eyes, I took in my rescuer's appearance for future reference should our paths cross again. The man is tall and broad shouldered with brown eyes and shaggy blonde hair framing chiseled facial features. His attire consists of a deep purple business suit and a gunmetal gray vest, the fabric adorned with a faded and almost completely concealed checkered pattern and pinstriped pants with card suits winding their way around the hem. To complete it all is a black top hat, a small tag reading 'In this style 10/6' sticking out from under the hat's brim. Before I could thank him for helping me, I watched as his eyes widened and gave me a low bow.

"Please pardon the inappropriate name I had addressed you with, Your Majesty."

I blinked in confusion of the odd man's statement and looked down at myself to find myself in a dress that would befit a princess in a fairytale. The dress is a deep scarlet and low cut, showing off a third of my bust. The skirts are layered, flattering my hips with layers of red, gold, black, and white, each section of fabric getting just a bit larger until it reached the ground. My normally short platinum hair somehow grown out and had been done up in an intricate bun on my head and a gold crown finished off my outfit. Taking off the crown, I noted it's broken and tarnished, little holes showing up here and there to indicate if it were whole, those places would have held precious stones.

_Broken and sad as the tarnish on your crown_  
_Nowhere to go but down_  
_Caught up in yourself, nowhere to be found_  
_No other way but down_

_Down, down, down_  
_Down, down, down_

"Where am I?" I asked the strange man, still in that deep bow since he took note of my attire. "And for goodness' sake, stand up!" The man straightened himself and smiled maniacally down at me.

"You're in Wonderland, Majesty. Where else would you be?" he replied, gesturing at everything surrounding us with a grand turning sweep of his outstretched arms.

"Who are you?" I questioned, feeling my curiosity piquing at my sudden change from a nightgown to a ball gown, an unknown land appearing in the bottom of a hole, and the bizarre man before me.

"You may call me the Mad Hatter," he said, sweeping his hat off his head and bowed again. I nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of the madman before me and murmured, "I see. How do I get out of here?"

"That's an easy one! Follow me!" Hatter cried with joyous delirium, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the forest surrounding us behind him before I could respond.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked breathlessly, attempting to keep up with the deranged man's long strides as he led us through the forest.

"What would your visit to Wonderland be without stopping in for a tea party?" he asked cheerily before crying out, "I made a rhyme!" I couldn't help but giggle at the crazed man's pride of himself for rhyming some words and looked down, watching in astonishment as my dress got shorter and shorter until it ended at my calves and turned sky blue and a white pinafore appeared tied neatly around my thin waist and tights showing up on my legs from out of thin air and black dress shoes. Taking my free hand to my head, I made a small noise of wonderment at finding my hair is back to its original length.

Before long, we entered a clearing occupied by a rickety old house and an absurdly large table covered with tea things and treats of almost every kind I can think of set up in the yard. From what I could see, there were people occupying the seats and the Hatter led me to the empty high backed seat at the head of the table and carelessly dumped the person out of the seat next to it and onto the ground. I watched the fallen man, waiting for him to get up and berate the madman for dumping him out of his seat, but he did nothing, he simply laid there.

"Hey, buddy, are you okay?" I asked, poking the man's shoulder with curiosity.

"Oh, he's alright, my dear. After all, he can't feel a thing," the Hatter's calm voice said, nudging the prone form over with his foot to reveal sunken and bony features and unfocused eyes. My eyes widened in shocked horror of the turn of events and slowly looked up and around the unmoving occupants of the table.

"Are they all...?" I asked, trailing off at the end, unable to force out the word. The Hatter nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course they are! They've been waiting with me for years!" he said, laughing crazily, taking me by the arm and hoisting me up and seating me in the chair next to him.

_Say your farewell to what's real_  
_Like the pain that you feel_  
_Welcome to Wonderland (It's dead)_

_Eat me or drink me_  
_Seeing is believing_  
_Wonderland, baby,_  
_Is all in your head_

"Now, my dear, would you care for some tea?" the Hatter asked, offering me a chipped teacup filled to the brim with the beverage.

I accepted the beverage without a word, numb to my surroundings, allowing the Hatter to add sugar and cream to my tea and brought it to my lips, grimacing at its bitter flavor. "What sort of tea is this?" I asked, coughing as the bitter flavor continued to inflict torture upon the inside of my mouth.

"That, my dear Cricket, is the taste of emptiness. The taste of your world and mine falling to ruin," he said calmly, smiling pleasantly as my coughing got worse. My eyes watered and my throat felt sore, my breath heaving in my chest and tried to offer a smile as he got out of his seat and excused himself for a moment.

"I have to get out of here!" I said in terror, finally getting my coughing fit under control. I straightened in my seat, looking through the dirty windows to see if the Mad Hatter was anywhere near the windows to see me before I got out of my chair and ran back the way we came.

_Your cup runs over with emptiness_  
_Chasing the hare of your innocence_  
_Hide behind your Cheshire smile_  
_Once was vivid, was great all the while_

_Broken and sad as the tarnish on your crown_  
_Nowhere to go but down_  
_Caught up in yourself, nowhere to be found_  
_No other way but down_

_Down, down, down_  
_Down, down, down_

I ran, unsure of where I'm going, but afraid to stop as the shouting of the Cards echoed behind me. The Hatter's manic laugh rang out clear over the shouting as he ordered the army to not let me escape.

"_Alice_..."

"You're not gonna get me! You're not gonna get me! You're not gonna get me!" I murmured frantically to myself, pushing low branches out of my path and stumbling as the hem of my dress caught on roots jutting out of the ground, making me fall into a large hole that crumbled away in the earth, getting swallowed by the darkness and weightlessness of falling.

"_Alice... you're late for a very important date,_" that eerie voice whispered in my ear, sending chills running up and down my spine in cold terror and squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for my imminent impact with the hard, unforgiving ground.

_Say your farewell to what's real_  
_Like the pain that you feel_  
_Welcome to Wonderland (It's dead)_

"_Alice_..." a distant voice called.

"I'm late..." I mumbled sleepily, opening my eyes a crack and grimacing as a bright light invaded my senses, getting me to shield my eyes with my hand.

"Oh, thank God! We were so worried about you!" that voice said again and I finally recognized it as my mother's voice.

"Mom...?" I questioned, rubbing my eyes and craning my neck to try and locate the woman.

"Yes, honey, I'm right here!" she said, her voice cracking as tears welled in her eyes.

"What happened? Where am I?" I asked, my vision clearing enough to see I'm in a hospital room. What got the bulk of my attention in that moment was that my head had been bound, a sign I had hit it quite hard.

"You fell down a hole and knocked yourself unconscious. This kind man saw it happen and he went in and pulled you out," she replied, gesturing to a tall man wearing a suit and top hat. What really got me was the tag that read, 'In this style 10/6' and the almost insane glint in his dark eyes.

"You may call me Jonathan Hatter," the man greeted kindly, extending a hand for me to shake. I watched the man warily, whispering, "I saw you in my dream... You kidnapped me."

Jonathan laughed. "I wouldn't harm a fly! It must be a coincidence I showed up in your dream and you must have caught a glimpse of me before you passed out. It's all in your head." Jonathan went on to speak with my mother alone outside the room for a moment before he left us altogether, stating he had an "important date" to get to.

"What are you thinking about?" Mom asked me, cocking her head to the side a little.

"... Nothing. Was Wonderland really just a dream?" I replied, whispering the last part softly enough she couldn't hear me.

_Eat me or drink me_  
_Seeing is believing_  
_Wonderland, baby,_  
_Is all in your head_


End file.
